Ghana Tastes: Day 39: Piety and Pizza

Accra - Today we attended the Christiansborg Baptist Church in Osu as the rain fell from the cloudy sky. This church was established in 1953 by missionaries from the U.S. It's built in a traditional style with the old style unpadded wooden pews. High ceiling. Open windows and fans for cool ventilation. Sunday School began at 9:00 am and worship was scheduled to begin at 10:30. They rang the bell to conclude Sunday School at 10:15 so, with the customary transition, worship actually began at 10:35. A Cape Coast University student named Naomi sat with us and helped to guide us through the service. Like all Ghanaian churches we've been to, first time visitors are required to stand and introduce themselves. The Christianborg Church was particularly pleased that we were from the Atlanta, GA area because they are currently using a set of hymnals donated by former members who now live in Atlanta. The hymns were very traditional. We sang, "Blessed Assurance", "O Happy Day", and "The Precious Name of Jesus". The choir was phenomenally good, especially having only eight voices. The harmony was pitch perfect. The pastor preached Psalm 91:4 in English with translation into Ga. After the service, all of the visitors were taken to the pastor's office to get better acquainted. We also met the former pastor, Rev. Kennedy, and his wife.

After church we ate at the highly recommended Mamma Mia Restaurant. Another well disguised gem, we have been looking for it for a couple of days and we finally located it. This restaurant serves casual Italian fare, unlike its cousin Michelangelo's which is decidedly upscale. However, between two beverages a piece, two pizzas, and an ice cream, we still spent over 100 Ghana cedis. Wood fired brick oven pizza, pasta, and an extensive beverage list make this place very popular. They do a brisk take out business, judging from the number of customers carrying boxes out from the main counter. Most of the seating is outdoors on a tile floor with a thatched roof. The manager, Lyn is from the Philippines. She estimated that upwards of eighty percent of the clientele is composed of expats from Italy, Lebanon, the United States, and other countries. The owner, who greeted us when we entered, is half Lebanese and half Italian. When I asked her about Ghanaian customers, Lynn stated that the popularity of pizza in Ghana over all is increasing, but most of her customers remain solidly non Ghanaian.